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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 7, 2018
An exploration of twenty-three of Rembrandt’s most unusual drawings, all inspired by the majesty of the Mughal Empire and its art
LOS ANGELES —The history of artistic exchange between cultures is always fascinating, which is never more true than when looking at the seventeenth century when there was a rich interchange between the Netherlands and the Mughal Empire. Rembrandt and the Inspiration of India edited by Stephanie Schrader (Getty Publications, $39.95, hardcover) examines the impact of Indian art and culture on Rembrandt (1606–1669) in the late 1650s. By pairing Rembrandt’s twenty-two extant drawings of Shah Jahan, Jahangir, Dara Shikoh, and other Mughal courtiers with Mughal paintings of similar compositions, the book critiques the prevailing notion that Rembrandt “brought life” to the static Mughal art. Written by scholars of both Dutch and Indian art, the essays in this volume instead demonstrate how Rembrandt’s contact with Mughal painting inspired him to draw in an entirely new, refined style on Asian paper—an approach that was shaped by the Dutch trade in Asia and prompted by the curiosity of a foreign culture. Seen in this light, Rembrandt’s engagement with India enriches our understanding of collecting in seventeenth-century Amsterdam, the Dutch global economy, and Rembrandt’s artistic self-fashioning. A close examination of the Mughal imperial workshop provides new insights into how Indian paintings came to Europe as well as how Dutch prints were incorporated into Mughal compositions. This volume is published to accompany an exhibition on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center, March 13 to June 24, 2018.
Stephanie Schrader is curator of drawings at the J. Paul Getty Museum. She is editor of Looking East: Rubens’s Encounter with Asia (Getty Publications, 2013).
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Publication Information:
Rembrandt and the Inspiration of India Edited by Stephanie Schrader J. Paul Getty Museum 160 pages, 8 3/4 x 11 1/2 inches 130 color illustrations ISBN 978-1-60606-552-5, hardcover US $39.95 UK £30.00
US Publication Date: March 20, 2018 UK Publication Date: March 22, 2018
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Available at bookstores or through Getty Publications (800-223-3431). Distributed to the trade in the U.S. and Canada by the University of Chicago Press.